


Bingo: "Pain that must wait until later"

by taylor_tut



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Head Injury, Hurt Tony Stark, Injury, Protective Clint Barton, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21770857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: A very short drabble from my tumblr. Tony and Clint are trapped under a collapsed building and Tony is hurt.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 140
Collections: Assassin Twins + Tony





	Bingo: "Pain that must wait until later"

Tony turned to Clint, the blood on his face now dry enough that it no longer shimmered in the dim, sparse emergency lighting of the bottom floor of the Bank of America Tower, and managed to pry his eyes open long enough to look at him. 

“How ya doin’, birdie?” he asked weakly. Clint laughed bitterly.

“Been better,” he replied, “but I’m probably still doing better than you.” Tony was leaned against the wall, sitting at an odd angle to accommodate the rubble. When Clint had first been pinned, he’d assumed that Tony was okay after the building collapsed, because he’d immediately started trying to move the steel beams from off his body even despite the fact that the suit had been damaged so badly it was no longer working. It wasn’t until Tony had stumbled away from the wreckage, put a hand to the wall, and collapsed that he’d started to think that perhaps he was injured, and it wasn’t until Tony had given up that he’d known it was really bad. Say what you will about Tony, the one thing that Clint couldn’t fault him for was being a quitter. In fact, Tony worked best in dismal scenarios, when he had nothing but his famous box of scrap parts and his own brain to rely upon. It had taken a lot of convincing for Clint to get Tony to scoot over next to him, even some promises of pancake breakfast when they finally got back to the Tower, but once Tony was sitting nearer, he could see all the damage the building had done. Clint had been lucky, managing to escape relatively unscathed despite being pinned, and Tony seemed to have received the brunt of the injuries. He’d been fading now for what felt like hours and now he was barely able to stay awake. 

“I think we should try the suit one more time,” Clint suggested desperately. “I mean, it can’t hurt, right? Maybe it just needed a minute to power back up.”

Tony shook his head. “Suit’s down,” he said simply, hopelessly. “He’s dead, Jim. Not with a bang, but…” 

Clint frowned when Tony trailed off. “Tony?” he demanded, reaching out to shake him like he’d been doing all night. This time, he didn’t rouse as easily as the other times, and when he finally did pry his eyes open, it didn’t look as though they’d stay that way for long. “Tony, stay awake. You can’t go to sleep, remember?”

“Not sleeping, Clint,” Tony snapped, the last bit of energy he had in him channeling itself into annoyance. Clint wasn’t sure Tony had ever called him by his first name before: it was always either “Barton” or a nickname. He’d always thought he’d like to hear it from Tony’s lips, but he found that he really, really didn’t. “M’passing out. Can’t help it.”

Clint sighed. “I know you can’t. I just… don’t know what else to do, you know?”

Tony smiled wanly. “You and me both,” he said. He shifted to sit up further, clearly an attempt to appease Clint’s request even though it was far too demanding for him in this state. He probably had internal bleeding. He almost certainly had a concussion. He couldn’t stay down here much longer. 

“Know any good car games?” he asked, sounding a little delirious. “I spy with my little eye…”

Clint bit his lower lip. “Something black?” 

Despite that not being very funny, Tony laughed a little. “Everything,” he replied. “Short game.”

“Yeah, not the best pick.” Clint racked his brain for something else to keep Tony alert and occupied and couldn’t help but think about how if his life were normal, he’d know a few more games like this. He rarely got enough free time to take the kids anywhere, and when he did, they never drove—Tony always offered to fly them for free in his private jet, and they always accepted because the kids loved it. Next time they went to the beach, he decided, they were driving there, the old fashioned way. Laura would hate it. The kids would hate it. Clint couldn’t wait. 

“We could talk.” Tony groaned. “Well, we’ve got to do something. We can’t just—wait. What was that?”

Tony was unconscious, but he didn’t have time to worry about that, because the noise he’d heard was the sound of Thor and Hulk sorting through the rubble. 

“We’re in here!” he shouted as loud as he could, wincing when Tony didn’t so much as stir. “Hurry!” 

And Clint saw the blinding light of day. 


End file.
